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The word 'cause' is an altar to an unknown god.

William James

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William James
Age: 68 †
Born: 1842
Born: January 11
Died: 1910
Died: August 26
Philosopher
Physician
Psychologist
University Teacher
W. James
Causes
Word
Altar
Altars
Unknown
Cause

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The deepest longing in the human breast is the desire for appreciation.
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... I am the same personal being who in old times upon the Earth had those experiences.
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Science herself consults her heart when she lays it down that the infinite ascertainment of fact and correction of false belief are the supreme goods for man.
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Philosophy is an unusually stubborn attempt to think clearly.
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Psychology is a science, and teaching is an art and sciences never generate arts directly out of themselves.
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Agisci come se quel che fai, facesse la differenza. La fa!
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Everything which is demanded is by that fact a good.
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In the practical use of our intellect, forgetting is as important as remembering.
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As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.
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One of the greatest discoveries of our time is that a man can alter the state of their life by altering the state of their mind.
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The trail of the human serpent is thus over everything.
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If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.
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Wisdom is learning what to overlook.
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We hear in these days of scientific enlightenment a great deal of discussion about the efficacy of Prayer. Many reasons are given why we should not pray. Others give reasons why we should pray. Very little is said of the reason we do pray. The reason is simple: We pray because we cannot help praying.
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Our ideas must agree with realities, be such realities concrete or abstract, be they facts or be they principles, under penalty of endless inconsistency and frustration.
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That which is most personal, is most interesting.
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All religions begin with the cry Help.
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The science of logic never made a man reason rightly, and the science of ethics never made a man behave rightly. The most such sciences can do is to help us to catch ourselves up and check ourselves, if we start to reason or to behave wrongly and to criticise ourselves more articulately after we have made mistakes.
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If an unusual necessity forces us onward, a surprising thing occurs. The fatigue gets worse up to a certain point, when, gradually or suddenly, it passes away and we are fresher than before!
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What holds attention determines action.
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